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JJ wont make a difference, they should be more worried about the spurs deep bench, would havin rasho n brown back make a diff.....
At first glance one is inclined to think not, but his return would give the Suns one more weapon, one more variable to think about. While the Spurs were able to contain Marion in game 1, what happens when both Johnson and Marion are out there? With Joe Johnson back then Phoenix will have a bench again. Johnson's the type of player who could exploit some of the weaker links in the Spurs' D.
In game 1 the Suns had a 7 man rotation with 3 of their starting guards and forwards logging 40 minutes or more. This, after a number of their guys put up 50 minutes or more in their OT win at Dallas on Friday night. In some respects it's not surprising that the Spurs' have beaten the Suns at least twice this season by overpowering them in the 4th. The Suns seem to hit a physical wall by then.
Give them another athletic guy capable of playing 40 minutes, a guy shooting 51.9% from the field in the postseason (56.5% from 3), a decent rebounder, and a guy with some semblance of a midrange game tomorrow night and perhaps that is what the Suns will need to even up the series...
Last edited by SPARKY; 05-23-2005 at 07:55 AM.
JJ wont make a difference, they should be more worried about the spurs deep bench, would havin rasho n brown back make a diff.....
Having an extra useful player would mean much more for the Suns at this point.
Johnson will make it more difficult, but I think the Spurs will adapt fine.
How much can Johnson really be expected to contribute his first game back? Would he really be that effective?
I would think so unless his vision has been significantly impaired and/or he plays tentative. They're a better team with him than without.
Did you answer your own question, Sparky?
Spurs will have to work harder in game 2, Johnson or no Johnson, simply because Phoenix will be fighting for their playoff lives.
Let the Big Dog eat!
He will be effective, but i don't think it will be as much on offense as on defense. he is one of the players that the suns have that can play decent defense.
Adjusting to the Mask he will be wearing will not be easy. besides I don't think he will be getting the wide open shots that he got against Memphis and Dallas.
Joe Johnson is a threat to drive and he can hit the 15 foot jumper. Seattle worked the Spurs last round from that range. I expect the Suns will make a concerted effort to exploit that more in game 2.
I found it quite interesting that the Suns only had SEVEN players suited for play in Game #1. Is that correct?
They had more suited up but only 7 saw the court. When Johnson returns that would be 8...
I don't think he's going to be a big impact player. For starters I really have to question how aggressive he's going to be coming off of a nasty injury like that. And finding his rhythm might take some time that the Suns just don't have right now. Plus he's going to have either Manu or Bowen chasing him around so that's going to take a chunk out of his scoring ability as well. Jim Jackson did exactly what Johnson has been doing for them in the playoffs yesterday and they still lost. Richardson and Marion need to wake the up. That will be the difference maker.
But Jim Jackson is their bench. Joe Johnson being unavailable is a net negative for them. No one made up for the loss of Jackson's bench production. Also, Johnson being out meant even heavier minutes than normal for the rest of their perimeter players.
Yes he will. But will it be a BIG enough difference, who knows, but he makes a difference for them.
Joe Johnson won't be the difference maker, unless the SPurs did something stupid and left him wide open. But I don't think they will.
Robinson is better than Joe Johnson, and we're gettin' him back, so I think it comes out even.
What's the deal with TMass and Brown? Is Brown not ready to play yet? Why is TMass not getting any minuted? When Nazr picked up foul #5, I thought TMass and Rasho would get more minutes, but Rasho only played 4 and TMass still got none.
joe johnson is a tad bit better at this point than robinson, injured eye or not.
suns need depth badly. they had no one off the bench to backup the swing spots yesterday. no one.
"Is Brown not ready to play yet? "
no, his leg is still weak.
"Why is TMass not getting any minuted?"
We are in the playoffs, 12th men a way out of the tightened rotation. Even Rasho isn't getting many minutes.
When did Joe Johnson play as a franchise player and leading scorer for a team? He may be better than Robinson defensively (verdict's still not out on this, since RObinson historically is weak on D but has played great D so far in the playoffs) but he's definitely not better offensively.
yes historically glenn robinson has been better but this is 2005 not 1999. i'd go with johnson on both ends of the court
I think Joe Johnson and Jim Jackson put up about the same numbers. I think he wont make much difference.
WTF did JJ became all that in bball??? his a nobody and teh spurs defense will prove that by limited him to anything under 19pts.
Johnson would not have done any more at the 2 than Jackson did. The difference would have been that he would have played the minutes at the 1 that Barbosa got. Barbosa was terrible out there. That could be an eight-point swing.
The other use for Johnson would be guarding Tony Parker. He's not exactly a lockdown artist, but anything is better than Steve Nash (how many MVP's can you say that about?).
If JJ limits Jim Jackson's playing time, I'm all for it. Tim's ankle close to 100% by tuesday will have the biggest impact.
When Rasho played in the second half, that was the only time Phoenix was able to get their offense on track. That's when they went up by eight. Rasho could not keep up with the pace, and the Spurs' defensive rotation was a mess -- the Suns were 5 on 4, and got wide-open threes at will.
That's why Rasho only got 4 minutes.
TMass is a poor matchup against Phoenix. He's a bruiser, not a runner. Amare could just blow by him facing the basket, and then rest on defense. Mass only plays if everybody else is in foul trouble or injured, and maybe not even then.
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